Aftermath
by friendofkara
Summary: Now that Supergirl has saved the world certain consequences are inevitable. I don't own the characters. 7. Medal of Freedom. In which the President presents a medal and Supergirl makes a vow.
1. Changes

1\. Changes

 _In which Kara tells Miss Grant what she wants and the President of the United States tells Cat what she will receive._

The usual Monday morning rush met Cat Grant as she walked out of her private elevator and across the newsroom to her office.

"Good morning, Miss Grant. Here's your latte. Here are your messages. And Kara called. She wanted to meet with you later today, so I put her on the schedule at 11, subject to your approval." It was Donna, her new administrative assistant.

"Yes, that's fine. I'll see her at 11."

"I'll tell her, Miss Grant."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

As Kiera walked into the office, Cat Grant noticed that her assistant had clearly enjoyed a good vacation. She looked happy, relaxed and tanned.

"Welcome back Kiera. Sit down. You look good. What did you do for the last week?"

"Went to an almost deserted island in the sun, sat on a beach for a week, swam and relaxed." Then she yawned. "Sorry, Miss Grant, but I feel a little out of sorts since I landed this morning."

That wasn't the full truth, of course. During her nine days out of the office, Kara had conducted her uncle's funeral and observed the first week's mourning rituals as she came to terms with having had to kill him. Now, the shock was beginning to fade. She had also thought hard about the challenge her boss had given her before she left.

"Don't worry," her mentor said now, "that's probably jet lag. Just get a good night's sleep tonight and for the next few days and you'll be fine. And see me before you take your next long flight: I can give you something that'll help. That said, I'm glad you enjoyed your vacation, but of all the weeks to take it, I wish you'd picked another one."

"Oh, what's happened?"

"With the fallout from the Kryptonian's Myriad wave, and the President's announcement that Supergirl has ended the threat together with her introduction of this DEO organization that has been fighting hostile aliens under our noses for the past ten years, it's been a very busy week for the news business as we're busy trying to find out what they're not telling us. All the statements were short on details. Not the best week to try and break in a new AA."

"How's Donna doing?"

"Somewhat below your standards, but better than any other AA I've hired. Of course, it's early days yet. I know you asked me to hire her as an AA under you and to make you my Executive Assistant before you left, but you didn't explain why in any detail. I hope you're ready to explain what you want to do as my EA and why it will be a promotion for you. Won't you be doing half the same work with a different title?"

Kara Danvers took a deep breath. It was make or break time.

"No, Miss Grant, I won't be doing the same thing at all. The job I want is in two parts and the EA part is only one part of it. As your EA, I sit at my old desk and I appear to be your troubleshooter: you'll be sending me out to resolve issues throughout the building or on outside errands while Donna handles your schedule and phone calls. Which means my absences are not remarked on. And when I'm here, I can keep an eye on Donna and make sure she gets up to speed so you don't bully her too much."

"And why will you really be absent?"

"That's the second part of the job. You asked me to find something I wanted to do, within reason. I took your statement to mean that job also has to be something that helps CatCo as well as being something I want to do. And when I thought about possible jobs that met both conditions, I realized we aren't doing something we've needed to do for a long time now. We have investigative teams covering various specialties but we don't have a team specializing in Supergirl coverage and she's right here in town. We should set up a team that has covering her as its first priority. We need a team of three people to do it. I want to be on that team as one of its two writers."

"Why two writers and who is the other one?"

"The other one is James Olsen. He has contacts with Supergirl, can reach her when needed, and nobody except Lois Lane has more experience covering superhero stories. I won't regularly need him to go out in the field with me as a photographer, but if something special happens and I do need him, he's trained up a good deputy in the last year. I never have to tell Dave to redo his layouts before I pass them to you. And since I did that story on the Flash that you called passable, you know that I also have a bit of experience writing superhero stories. Yet we both know it was my first piece. I need James' help to polish my craft."

Cat thought back to that strange episode where Kiera had been saved from certain death by a charming visitor who claimed to be from another earth. She'd quickly submitted a fully professional story that included all the necessary details and required minimal editing.

"It's true your piece met our standards, but I have other, more senior reporters, whose work might have earned them the slot. Why should I give it to you over their heads? And don't forget, covering Supergirl could be dangerous. Remember what she said about people who are close to her risking having targets painted on their back. I talked to James after we met with Supergirl that night and he confirmed that the dangers are real. And both of us know what that's like: I have that same target on my back now from Livewire just as you do from Silver Banshee. Do you really want to put yourself into some more super-villains' crosshairs?"

"First, Supergirl saved my sister. I owe her. If I can help her by giving her accurate coverage, I want to do that. With that kind of motivation, I'll work harder than anyone else you assign. Also, Supergirl has met me and we seemed to get on well together. I think she may trust me a bit and I don't think she has had extended conversations with any of our other reporters, so I could have an advantage that CatCo's other reporters don't have. As your EA, I can be the team's direct link to you without going through the news desk editors, and that's something that will be necessary given who we'll be covering. Also, you owe me: this is my quid pro quo for what you called keeping Supergirl in the CatCo stable. The most important reason though is that I've got an idea of how to minimize the dangers that covering Supergirl might bring to any of our people who get too close to her in the public eye."

"I see. You've really given some thought to this. How do we keep either our other people or yourself safe?"

First, we don't publish the fact that we've established Team Supergirl. Only you, me, James and Winn, the news desk editors and Donna will know what's really going on. And when most of our stories get filed, they'll get filed under a series of different pseudonyms we make up as well as my own byline. That way no one reporter will get a reputation for being especially close to Supergirl.

"You said most of our stories? That means some of them won't get filed under pseudonyms. Who files them and why are they different?"

"The Team Supergirl writers file the run of the mill stories, the Supergirl airlifts an ambulance or stops a robbery stories. I'll write them and file some of those under my own name, but no more than any other name we use, maybe one in five, one in six. You'll file the big stories, the Supergirl saves the world stories, an annual interview maybe. We'll probably run one or two Supergirl stories a week, once we get going and of those, maybe one in one in twenty will need to go under your byline. So the target on your back doesn't get much bigger, but you keep your place as Supergirl's principal cheerleader which is important to CatCo."

"Why do you need Winn?"

"Because Team Supergirl is going to need his computer skills which are far beyond what he needs for his assignment to the executive suite and he's bored stiff doing the little we need him to do here. Did his manager tell you that the DEO borrowed him during the Kryptonian crisis because his counter hacking skills were better than anything they had? Team Supergirl can use him to do all kinds of work covering the full range of his skills. But mostly we'll use him to write programs that predict the likelihood of situations where Supergirl might be needed so the team can get ahead of events. By the way, that reminds me of the other reason I want to be your EA. In that role, when I'm here, I'll be one of the first to know when something breaks."

"I see. You are right that we need Team Supergirl, and you've made a good case for yourself as its principal writer, at least to start. But I'll make one change to your plans."

"What's that?"

"The Team Supergirl stories don't go through the desk editors. I'll edit them personally. That way I'll make sure you meet our standards. We'll start you on three months probation, and if you survive that, we'll make it permanent."

"That will be great, Miss Grant. Could you come with me for a moment please?"

"Where would we go?"

"I want you to see something. It won't take long; you'll be back before your next appointment. Trust me, it's important."

Cat nodded and followed Keira out of her office, down the corridors to the door of the office she had given Keira before her vacation. But her assistant didn't stop.

"Keira, isn't this your office?"

"It's too small for the job we just talked about. So Winn found me something else. I'd like you to see it." They got into the freight elevator and went up one floor.

They rounded the last corner and Keira opened another door to a larger office. It was vacant and unpainted. A large number of CatCo computers and monitors were present on the desks. James Olsen and Winn were waiting.

"Team Supergirl is a go," Kara announced.

"Thank you, Miss Grant," said James as Winn said "Great."

"Don't mention it, gentlemen. As Keira pointed out, we really should have done it a long time ago. But I really don't need to see an office, Keira."

"No, you don't, but you do need to meet some people who you might not want to meet openly in your office. And here are two of them now."

Into the office walked a black man and a slight, chestnut haired woman, both of whom Cat had seen before.

"Agents Mulder and Scully, what are you doing here?"

"Now that the President has made the agency public, I can tell you that my name is Hank Henshaw and I'm the Director of the Department of Extra-Normal Operations. This is my Deputy Director for Field Operations, Alexandra Danvers. We have authority to act as FBI agents at need."

"Director Henshaw, I'm pleased to meet you. Are you any connection to Kiera, Deputy Danvers?"

"My sister's name is Kara, Miss Grant."

"Well aside from correcting my pronunciation, why are you two here?"

Director Henshaw took the floor. "Miss Grant, what happened with the Kryptonians has told everyone that there are unknown, antagonistic aliens on earth. As a matter of fact, we have known that for over a decade. We have no reason to think that Supergirl's recent victory has accounted for all of the aliens who wish us ill, and the DEO is the agency charged with managing such situations. Now while Supergirl is not a DEO employee, it has occurred to us that she might well encounter such aliens in future, and if your Team Supergirl people are on the scene of such an event, they might be in a position to give us some additional information that will help us – without violating journalistic ethics. We also want to trade something for that information. We want to set up a communications link between our headquarters and this office that will give Mr. Schott access to one of our databases in order to help him write the necessary algorithms for the Team Supergirl that your Ms. Danvers has proposed."

"Does Winn have the appropriate security clearance?" Cat asked.

"Yes. Mr. Schott has been a highly effective consultant to us on previous occasions. For one thing, he's far more advanced in malware counter hacking than any of our staff. He was invaluable to us in the recent emergency. He has already set up algorithms that have proven accurate in predicting alien activities and he can apply the same skills to help your team predict where Supergirl is likely to be needed, even at very short notice. And that could also help us get some backup to her more quickly if she ever needs it."

"We have always cooperated with legitimate requests from law enforcement agencies and I don't see any reason why we shouldn't do this. By all means go ahead," said Cat.

"Thank you, but Ms. Danvers insisted that she would not set up such a relationship without your specific approval. And she also wanted you to meet the people involved. Now that you've agreed, there's someone else who'd like to speak to you." said Director Henshaw as his deputy turned on a monitor, and Cat found herself looking at the face of the President of the United States.

"Hello Cat."

"Madam President."

"I wanted to thank you for agreeing to help Director Henshaw and his team. As you know we can't fully assess the alien dangers at this time, but we know they could be serious."

"Yes indeed, and that reminds me." Cat turned away from the screen. "Director Henshaw, what can you tell us about that green alien who stopped Supergirl when she went temporarily insane?"

Cat noticed that the two DEO agents and Keira all froze at her question. "Interesting," she thought.

Surprisingly, it was the President who answered.

"Cat, you can take my word for it that that particular alien is a known quantity on the side of the angels. For one thing, if he hadn't helped Supergirl win her final battle with the Kryptonians, none of us would be here today."

"Is that alien on the DEO staff, Director Henshaw?"

Cat noticed that the three frozen people in the room tightened up even more if that was possible.

Again it was the President who replied.

"Cat, I'm joining this conversation on Skype which is non-secure. Let's just say he's available whenever he's needed."

Cat realized that the President would not allow the conversation to go further down this road. "I see," she said.

"One more thing," the President continued.

"What's that?"

"I've been told by Director Henshaw that you inspired Supergirl to give that broadcast that ended the mind control phase of the war. Because you did that, I've asked him to give his first on-the-record interview to you as an exclusive. And that interview will include the details we can release of how Supergirl and her friend defeated the Kryptonians."

"Thank you, Madam President."

"You're welcome, Cat. Bye for now."

Alex Danvers turned off the monitor as Director Henshaw looked at Cat.

"Our headquarters is outside the city. Could you come by sometime this evening?"

"Why not here and now?"

"Don't you want some time to prepare your questions?"

"Yes, that will be helpful. But why not here?"

"There are a few things on-site that you might like to see that are too big to be brought here."

"I see. Kiera, what does my schedule look like this evening?"

"You're free after five o'clock, Miss Grant," her assistant replied. "You may want to hold a half hour in reserve in case of delays. I've already called Carter's nanny and confirmed that she'll be able to stay late tonight."

"A 5:30 departure it is then. Director Henshaw, what's your address?"

"I'll give your driver the directions on my way out. It will be about an hour's drive. Bring a warm jacket, we have to keep the temperatures cool."

"Then I'll see you this evening. Good-bye," Cat said as the two DEO agents left.


	2. First Flight

2\. First Flight

 _In which Supergirl provides taxi service and Cat Grant quotes poetry._

Cat Grant was taking a last look from her balcony before leaving when Supergirl dropped down beside her.

"Good evening, Miss Grant. How are you?"

"I'm well, Supergirl. What brings you here?"

"I hear you are going out to the DEO this evening. So am I. If you'd like to give your driver an evening off, I could fly you out. And while we're on our way, I could give you the details of how we beat the Kryptonians. And it's not as if I can't get back quickly if I'm needed"

"According to the President, it was you and your green friend who beat them."

"Yes, but we had help."

Cat thought about the offer for a moment. Then she called her driver and told him that he was free to go. She picked up her jacket, made sure her iPhone was fully charged, grabbed her backup and a charger, and turned to Supergirl.

"You do realize that you are giving me two stories, not just one? Not only 'How Supergirl saved Earth,' but also 'What it's like to fly with Supergirl.'"

"Call it my thank you for all your help."

"How do we do this?"

"Since the fireman's carry is aerodynamically unstable, I normally use one of two ways when I carry someone. You can go either in an arm carry or piggyback. The arm carry gives you more comfort but less speed, piggyback might be a little less comfortable for you but I'll be able to fly faster."

"I'll take the arm carry," said Cat.

"OK then, I put one arm behind your shoulders . . . the other one under your knees and here we go."

"Are you sure I won't be too heavy?"

"I don't know the upper limits of my strength, Miss Grant, but after picking up and carrying into space my opponents' headquarters – a Kryptonian space station that I'm told weighed in at about a million tons – I'll barely notice you," Supergirl said as she bent her knees to launch herself skyward.

At first, Cat felt as though she was in a fast moving elevator as the ground quickly dropped away. They kept on going straight up for what seemed to be a very long time. Then Supergirl leveled out to about a 30-degree angle and aimed herself inland.

"Why are we still climbing?" Cat asked.

"We don't want anyone on the ground to see where we're going. Director Henshaw is right to keep the DEO's location out of common knowledge. We still have some not-so-well-meaning aliens around."

Cat found herself relaxing more and more as she savored the strength of Supergirl's arms and reveled in the view around her. It was nothing like an airplane porthole, nothing at all.

The deep blue bowl of the sky was unmarred by any clouds. Almost without thinking, she muttered an old, half-forgotten poem.

"Up, up the long delirious, burning blue,  
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace,"

Another voice joined hers:

"Where never lark or even eagle flew.  
And while, with silent lifting mind I've trod  
The high untrespassed sanctity of space."

Both voices stopped at the same time. Cat continued: "It's so beautiful. Thank you for this gift, Supergirl. How do you know the poem?"

"I read it years ago, in high school. McGee got it right didn't he?"

"Yes, he did."

"Now you know why flying is my favorite earth ability. Do you remember the first part of the poem?"

"No, why?"

"Because he talks about many different kinds of flying. He 'danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings,' he 'joined the tumbling mirth of clouds' and he 'wheeled and soared and swung/high in the sunlit silence.' I can do all of those things."

"Can you do them now?" It was a request.

"Sure, but you'll need to hang on tight."

"I've got you," Cat said, and she put her arms around Supergirl's neck.

And suddenly Supergirl was dancing in mid-air, then she tumbled downwards for a few thousand feet in a roll that was gentle enough not to disorient her passenger. Then she spun around in a vertical circle and finished by regaining the height she had lost.

"Wow. Thanks again."

"You're welcome."

"There's something I've meant to ask you, Supergirl. That day in my office when I nearly fired my assistant . . . ?"

"Yes."

"You did something then that I've never seen you do any other time. Twice my assistant asked you to call her by her first name. Each time you came back with Ms. Danvers. Why did you do that?"

There was no reply for several seconds. Then Supergirl replied in a very serious tone.

"It was one thing to realize that I had to save that plane that first night. It was something else again to decide to come out as Supergirl and keep on helping others. As I went along, I've learned more about why I was doing it and how I had to go about doing it. That evening was one of my biggest lessons. I discovered that night that I couldn't call your assistant by her first name."

"Why not?"

"As you know, human beings are not equal in every sense. Skills differ, economic positions differ, social status differs and other things differ. But all people, and I include myself in this, are equal in at least one fundamental way. We all live lives of self-awareness, we can be frustrated, hurt or killed by tragic accidents, natural disasters or active evil. And every one of us eventually dies. So in that sense, we all equally share in the human condition. Now that night, I was talking to two individuals who are unequal socially. You're the billionaire executive, she's your assistant who probably lives paycheck to mouth every month. But what I realized that night is that when Supergirl's on the job, she doesn't meet people on the levels of the usual social distinctions we make every day. For Supergirl, every human is equally valuable simply because of his or her common humanity. It's that common humanity that calls to me for help, and it's that common humanity that I try to honor every time I respond. And so, I deliberately met you and your assistant on the same level of common humanity we all share."

"Not quite. You did not insist that we call you Ms. Supergirl."

"Supergirl is a job title. Calling me Supergirl is like calling a policeman "Officer." Besides, I have no right to demand anything of anyone on earth. This is your planet, not mine. I'm just happy to be here and help."

Cat winced.

"So you're humanity's servant? Cinderella to us stepsisters? Do you have a guilt complex?"

"No, Miss Grant, I don't have a guilt complex. I said I was happy to help. I meant that literally. When I can help people, it makes me feel happy. How do you feel when you've written a really good story?"

Cat thought for a moment.

"That this is what I was born for and it's great. It's like a shot of adrenaline in my heart. I'm so energized I want to sing, I want to dance, I want to shout with sheer joy, and do it all over again."

"I feel the same way when an injured bus driver thanks me for getting her to safety after she was trapped in an overturned bus. When you are that vividly alive, in that parallel moment, I'll bet you don't have any need to assert your social status to push yourself up or push others down. You're just too happy that you've done something great. Am I right?"

"Yes." Cat nodded. "I see what you mean."

"I thought you would."

"And since you mentioned how great you feel when you do your job how about telling me how you saved the earth?" She got out her iPhone and said. "Supergirl Interview 2"

"Certainly. You already know my opponents were Kryptonians. In fact, they were Kryptonian criminals who had been sentenced to life imprisonment on Krypton's maximum security prison, a space station we called Fort Rozz. Somehow the prisoners took control of the prison and landed on Earth. From there, they . . . "

It took Supergirl the length of the flight to give Cat the whole story and answer her questions.


	3. The Heart of Supergirl

3\. The heart of Supergirl

 _In which Cat Grant asks a multi-layered question and Supergirl's mother speaks to the point._

As the two women dropped towards the ground, Cat Grant looked at Supergirl.

"Those buildings don't look all that large."

"They're not," Supergirl replied. "Two are vehicle garages, the other is an entrance to a large underground cave network."

"If they are like any other government agency I've seen, they'll have at least one secure conference room, right?"

"Yes, Miss Grant, they do. And when I'm here, it's the equal or better of any secure room in the world. Why do you ask?"

"Can we borrow that room for a few minutes before I meet Director Henshaw? And Supergirl, I'd like to think that you're my friend – and my friends call me Cat."

"As I explained before, when I'm working or in public, I need to treat everyone on the same level, so you'll always be Miss Grant to me in those settings. But when we're alone or with friends, I'm happy to be your friend, Cat." The two women touched down at the entrance and Supergirl set Cat on her feet. "And since we're about half an hour ahead of when Director Henshaw expects you to arrive we can go to that conference room after I show you something first. But this is something that you can't print. OK?"

"OK."

Deputy Director Danvers was waiting inside the building.

"Welcome to the DEO, Miss Grant. Hello, Supergirl, you're early."

"As you know, it's faster to come by air."

"Director Henshaw is still busy on a long-distance call: he's trying to recruit a new member of the DEO. He's acting very hush hush about it: I don't even know who it is. We should probably use the time by giving you a facility tour." The three women moved toward an elevator.

"Let's let her see the ops room and the pod first, and then the hologram room," Supergirl said, "We can give Miss Grant the full tour after her meeting with the Director if she still wants one."

The DEO's field operations leader raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure about this, Supergirl?"

"Certain. Miss Grant wants to talk to me privately in a secure room before she sees the Director and the hologram room is the best place for that. I was going to show it to her anyway, and I set things up when I was out here this morning. I trust you haven't been in since then."

"No, Supergirl, my override only works if you are declared out of action, missing or worse. Since none of these things have happened, I couldn't have gotten in, and I had no need to try."

As they came out of the corridor into a big room Cat saw several people working at computers surrounding some large screens that reminded her of the smart wall in her CatCo office.

As they walked through the room, the DEO Deputy commented. "This room is where we track and analyze potential alien activities and devise countermeasures. We're linked with every federal, state and local security database and anything that happens that matches our criteria goes up on one of those screens immediately. Needless to say, it is this data we're already forwarding to Team Supergirl at CatCo so your Winn Schott can help us anticipate where Supergirl may be needed."

But Cat wasn't paying attention. "What's that?" she said pointing to something off to the side that looked nothing like an earth made airplane or spaceship but had clearly been designed to do some of the same things.

Supergirl replied: "That's the item I mentioned that you can't write about. It's the pod that brought me from Krypton to Earth. It's also the pod that Deputy Director Danvers used to retrieve me after I carried the Kryptonian base into space to end the danger from the Myriad wave."

"What's this about Deputy Danvers using it to retrieve you, Supergirl? You didn't tell me anything about that. I know I need to keep your answer on background, but you can't leave me hanging like that."

Supergirl replied "I told you that when we defeated the Kryptonian leaders who were onsite, we found out that they had destroyed their ship's engines and also made it impossible to turn off the wave which, as you know, was continually increasing in intensity. So the only way to save earth's people was by me carrying Fort Rozz out of the atmosphere and shoving it on a course well away from the earth. What I didn't tell you earlier is that my cousin hadn't trained me to fly in space yet."

Cat Grant noticed Supergirl's tone of nonchalant understatement, but the tone did not conceal the enormity of what she had heard.

"What you are saying is that you accepted certain death to save the earth, is that correct?"

Supergirl replied softly. "Not quite. I accepted the risk of dying, but since I knew my cousin had figured out how to fly in space, I knew there was a chance that I could do likewise. But, in the event, I didn't have to. Deputy Danvers here had figured out how pilot the pod. So she came out to pick me up and get us back home before I could figure out how to get back myself."

It was all Cat could do to echo Supergirl's nonchalance. "I see. Thank you for doing that, Deputy Danvers. But why can't I write about the pod?"

The DEO official replied. "The government does not want anybody to know that we have access to working interstellar technology."

"I see" Cat replied. "But we're getting closer to our meeting time with the Director, Supergirl, and I still need to talk privately with you for a few moments."

"Of course, please come this way. We'll be back soon, Alex."

The two women walked down a corridor and turned a corner. A locked door awaited them. Supergirl put her hand on the identification plate, and the door slid open. As she gestured for her guest to precede her, Supergirl remarked. "This room is lead lined, soundproof and, because I have X-ray vision and super hearing, I can tell you that there is nothing in the room that is capable of bugging this conversation. There is no more secure conference room on the planet right now than this one, and I can guarantee that what we say here will not be overheard."

Cat Grant looked around as the door closed. What she saw was an eight-sided concrete room lit in deep blue light with a platform in the middle. On the platform was a hologram, obviously frozen, of a woman with dark hair in a blue robe wearing a belt that matched the one on Supergirl's costume. She turned to Supergirl and asked, "What is that?"

"My pod carried other things besides me. One of them was an artificial intelligence system linked to a hologram projector that contained a complete transcript of my mother's memory as of the day she sent me away. Alex, I mean Deputy Danvers, figured out how it worked and set this up for me when I started to help the DEO."

"And the hologram is that of your mother." Cat's tone made the remark a statement.

"That's right. Her name was Alura Zor-El. The House of El was one of the leading families of Krypton with a long history of producing leaders in the sciences and government. Mom was a Judicator, a judge of the High Council and my Dad was a leading scientist. But we're secure now. What do you need to ask me?"

Cat thought for a moment before replying.

"I'm honored to be your friend, Supergirl, but I do need to know if I have met that shape changing green alien before. And I especially need to know if we met in my office."

With that, Supergirl relaxed. Her friend was running true to form in asking questions that carried more than one layer of meaning.

"That's very perceptive Cat, but I've always known you were sharp. I'll let my mother speak to that question before I do." The Kryptonian turned and pushed a button on the wall.

"Hello Kara." the hologram said, and Supergirl pushed the button to freeze it again.

The name Kara wasn't pronounced in quite the same way, but it was recognizable. Cat looked the question at Supergirl.

"My Kryptonian name is Kara Zor-El. Since you're one of my friends, you should know it." This time, the name was given the earthly pronunciation.

Cat Grant took a very deep breath. She'd guessed right, but what was she going to do with her knowledge? Her mind thought harder and faster than ever before.

"It's more than a conference room to you, isn't it? This room is the heart of Supergirl, and you've invited me into it. Perfectly sentimental, but I'm honored by the gift of your friendship, and I thank you for your trust. As I said before, I'll honor your confidence."

Supergirl nodded, "No, Cat, your cynical pose doesn't fool me for a second. Although you try to hide it, you have a heart too. And yes, you have met that green alien, and yes, it was in your office."

"And it's not that you didn't tell me sooner because you didn't trust me, you didn't tell me because you needed to be sure I knew all the implications and would comply with them. And now you know that the answers to both questions are yes and yes?" Cat's tone made the statement a question.

"That's right. Thank you for your understanding. By the way, can I ask you not to mention this conversation to Director Henshaw, Alex or any DEO staff? He tends to worry about me when he doesn't have to. And he'd freak out about this. He'll have to find out sooner or later, but I'd prefer later."

"Of course, I won't mention it. But I do have one last question."

"Oh?"

"All that computer equipment in your new office that I saw this morning. It needed more than a few minutes to set up those systems. Team Supergirl has been operating for a while hasn't it?"

"Yes, it has."

"Then James and Winn know who you are."

"Yes."

"Should we tell them that I also know?"

"I think so. I'll take care of it. And now it's time for your interview with the Director."

They left the hologram room and walked back to the operations cave, together.


	4. An Announcement and a Phone Call

4\. An Announcement and a Phone Call

 _In which Cat Grant demonstrates her skills and Supergirl briefs the President._

It was close to midnight when Cat Grant and Supergirl left the DEO headquarters. Alex walked them to the entrance, said her good-byes, watched her sister pick up her boss, and take off for National City. As she saw the two women fly higher, she realized she was still tense. She didn't know why the media mogul had wanted to talk to Supergirl privately, and she didn't know why Kara had suggested the hologram room as the site of their talk. For some reason, that bothered her.

As soon as they took off, Cat Grant spoke: "Supergirl?"

"Yes, Miss Grant."

"How quickly can we get back to the office? I've got a late night ahead of me with three major stories, two of them in my iPhone and one of them in my head, and I'd like to get going on them chop-chop."

"It took us about half an hour coming in. But I can speed things up a bit if you don't mind closing your eyes. But you have to promise you'll tell me if the wind is too much for you. We don't want you to come down with a cold."

"My eyes are closed. Let's see how fast you can go."

Supergirl sped up as much as she thought safe. "How's this?" she called over the noise of the wind.

"I think I can handle it."

They landed on Cat's office balcony less than ten minutes later. Cat had carefully left the door unlocked. As she turned the office lights on she said, "Do you have some other clothing nearby, or do you need to fly home, get some clothes and come back? Otherwise, we may give the security people a surprise you may not want to give them."

"I've already changed, Miss Grant. You said you have three stories. How do you want us to do this?"

Cat whirled. Kara Danvers was sitting on her couch, iPad in hand.

"I may ask how you did that later, but to answer your question; the President gave me the interview with the Director, so I have to write that one. That means you have to write Supergirl's story of how she saved the world because there's no way anybody but me is writing 'What it's like to fly with Supergirl.'"

"Miss Grant. That story of how she saved the world was Supergirl's gift to you. And you should write it."

"Yes, but can you think of a better story to launch team Supergirl?"

"Not this story Miss Grant."

"Why not?"

"This is the prototypical 'Supergirl saves the world' story. And the Team Supergirl protocol for those stories is that you write them."

"I see. So let me rephrase your instructions. I've just emailed you the audio file of that conversation. Your job will be to transcribe it, ask and answer any additional questions you feel need to be included and then pass it to me for editing, final polishing, and review. By which time I should have my interview with Director Henshaw ready for your editing and proofing. I'll write 'What It's Like To Fly With Supergirl' tomorrow for later publication."

By two-fifteen Kara had transcribed the interview with Supergirl ready for Cat to review and Cat passed her interview with Hank to her for checking. It took Cat only a few minutes to read the transcription Keira had prepared while Keira reviewed her interview.

"Good transcription, Keira."

"Thank you, Miss Grant. I've made no changes to your interview with Director Henshaw."

"Good, go ahead and send it to the desk editor. By the way, I've changed my mind. I'm going to combine this interview with 'What it's like to fly with Supergirl.'"

"Are you sure you want to do that, Miss Grant? It would break the single focus rule they taught us in journalism school."

"It may be a challenge. But if I can bring off the contrast between that horrible fight between Supergirl and her uncle, and then the desperation of needing to get that space station away from earth quickly, with the peace and security of being in Supergirl's care, the world will have a better sense of exactly how much we owe that young lady."

"You're right, but I don't see how you can do it," Kara said

"As I said, it's a challenge."

In the end, it took until well after five in the morning before Cat was satisfied and passed the story to Kara for checking. By five-forty five, Kara finished the proofing, told her boss she had made no changes, and sent it to desk editor. As she shut down her I-pad, the half-asleep assistant was marveling at her mentor's skill. Kara knew she couldn't have written that story to save her life.

Her boss' voice took her out of her reverie.

"Go home, Keira and get some sleep. I've emailed Donna and the desk editors and let them know I won't be in until noon at the earliest. And I don't want to hear that you came in in any earlier."

"Yes, Miss Grant."

The two stories went up on the CatCo website by six o'clock Tuesday morning and by seven thirty, the number of hits on the Supergirl story was a new record. By eight, Legal was swamped with reprint requests from every news organ they had ever heard of and many more that they hadn't. By Wednesday afternoon, Kara had written three background stories that outlined the entire ten year history of the DEO's battles with the criminal Kryptonians, invented suitable pseudonyms to run them under and was putting together the publication of a special issue of the CatCo Magazine that would, she hoped, go a long way towards quenching the public demand for information about the whole situation.

Kara had just met her boss her with the usual Thursday morning latte in her hand when the whole newsroom erupted in cheers. The two women looked at each other, puzzled. A few seconds later Winn came over. "Excuse me, Miss Grant, but Kara, you asked to be notified immediately if we got a high probability Supergirl event. We just got a 100% probable."

"And what, pray tell, Winn, is the event?"

"The White House just announced that Congress . . . "

"Yes, go on." Miss Grant was impatient.

"Congress has unanimously petitioned the President to award Supergirl the Medal of Freedom. With Distinction. And the President has agreed to do it. It's the highest possible honor that can be awarded to a civilian and it's awarded by the President in person. So Supergirl will have to be there to receive it."

Kara was stunned. As soon as she could speak, she looked at her boss. "I think I need to check this story with my government contacts," she said.

"Indeed, you should: chop-chop." said Miss Grant, whose smile resembled a supernova.

A quick phone call later and Kara told her boss. "I need to go see Alex. She has an emergency that needs me. I should be back in two hours or so, and it's likely I'll have more details on this when I come back."

"Off you go Keira, and if you see Supergirl out there . . . give her my congratulations and the congratulations from everyone here.

Supergirl shattered her speed record getting from CatCo to the DEO headquarters. Alex was waiting for her as she landed with a big hug for her sister.

"Hello, Kara. Thanks for getting here so fast. After Hank said he could reach you quickly, the President said she'd take his return call whenever you got here."

"Yes, and we need to prepare for that call," Kara replied

"What do you mean?"

"It's the perfect opportunity to tell the President that we know something highly illegal may be going on at Project Cadmus and that we'd like her to set up either a DEO takeover of the organization or a DEO investigation of the project to make sure all is well. And if Jeremiah's there, we get him back. Let's go talk to Hank."

It took half an hour to persuade Hank that Kara should explain matters to the President, but in the end, Hank gave in after convincing Kara that a DEO takeover attempt ran an unacceptably high risk of being seen to be politically motivated.

Hank, Supergirl, and Alex sat side by side in his office as Hank began the call to Washington. A few seconds later they were patched into the Oval Office and the President appeared on the secure screen in front of them.

"Hello again Director, Deputy Director," the President said. "Good morning Supergirl, thank you for coming."

"Good morning Madam President."

"I know General Lane told you that I'm indebted to you, but I have since learned from Director Henshaw's report that when you killed the last of the Kryptonian criminals and carried Fort Rozz into space, you knew you were sacrificing your life for the sake of the people of this world. So I wanted to meet you and thank you personally. And I also wanted to tell you that the Congress has petitioned me, and I have agreed, to award you the Medal of Freedom, with Distinction."

"Thank you, Madam President. But I have to say that I wasn't quite as noble as you're making me out to be. I thought I had a good chance to return safely after sending Fort Rozz on a flight path that took it well away from Earth. I knew my cousin had flown in space before. If he could figure out how to do it, I knew that there was a chance I could do likewise. At any rate, thanks to Deputy Danvers here, it wasn't necessary."

"Which is why Deputy Director Danvers will be receiving the National Service Star."

"Thank you Madam President," Alex replied. "I've never heard of that award."

"It's an award for outstanding services to the United States that must remain unpublished due to national security considerations. I'm sure you would agree that we can't publish the fact that we have access to a working interstellar spaceship."

"Of course," Alex replied.

"I should also mention that J'onn J'onnz will also be receiving the Star. The President usually presents the Star in person," the President continued, "I thought it might be appropriate to present the Stars to both of you at the White House before presenting Supergirl with her award. The Congress has asked me to make that presentation in the House of Representatives, and I have agreed. Would tomorrow at noon Washington time work for all of you for the Stars presentations, with the Medal of Freedom to follow, say, at three?"

"I'm sorry, Madam President, but can we postpone the date for another ten days?" Supergirl asked.

"Of course Supergirl, but why?"

"Two of the prisoners on Fort Rozz were my Aunt and Uncle. Aunt Astra was killed in the early stages of the fighting. In the aftermath of that event, Uncle Non was gracious enough to declare a truce to let me fulfill my obligation under Kryptonian custom, as her nearest female family member, to conduct her funeral. At that time, he promised me that should he or his fellows kill me in the conflict, he would conduct my funeral according to custom. Since he was the Kryptonian I killed outside Fort Rozz, I sang his funeral last Saturday along with the others killed in the battle and sent them home to Rao, but I should still observe the third of the three weeks of mourning that our customs say must follow a mass funeral after a battle."

The President was horrified. "You had to kill your uncle?"

Supergirl nodded.

"I'm so sorry. But after that, there can be no possible doubt about your loyalty to earth, or to the United States, Supergirl."

"That's an odd way of saying it Madam President. Did you know that in my private life I am a naturalized American citizen?"

"Yes, I knew that." The President said. "A former President ordered Director Henshaw to divulge the name of the family that had adopted our second Kryptonian visitor. A record of that conversation was left in the President's personal safe for subsequent incumbents, marked for the President's eyes only. If you like, I would be happy to destroy that note since we now can reach you at need through the DEO. And of course, I'll forget the contents myself unless my knowledge can be helpful to you when you receive the award."

"Yes, please do destroy that note."

"Is there anything else the government or I can do for you?"

"Yes, there are two things you could do. First, I think Deputy Danvers' family would appreciate seeing her receive her award. I know it's probably not usual, but as both Director Henshaw and I can attest from personal experience, they are good at keeping secrets."

"Done. I'll send invitations to her mother and sister immediately. And, Director Henshaw, I'll send an air force jet for you, your deputy and her family so that none of you will have to worry about flying commercial, and I'll also have my staff book hotel rooms for you. But you had a second request, Supergirl."

"Yes, I did. In the course of recent events, Director Henshaw and I came across some evidence that suggests that a DEO agent who, for the past ten years has been presumed dead, may, in fact, be alive and illegally detained on American soil. And the fastest way to find out whether this evidence is accurate requires your help since the organization that is allegedly detaining this agent is an arm of the federal government."

"Since I know I haven't authorized anything like that myself, even as a black project, what you're telling me is that somebody's running another Guantanamo Bay on our soil? Illegally?"

"That might be the case, yes."

"Then it doesn't matter who they are: we end it now. How can I help?"

"The organization in question is Project Cadmus."

"That's a bit complicated: the project does address legitimate security concerns. And if somebody uncovered it without authorization, or needs to be detained for other legitimate reasons, the people there do have the authority they need to do that. I don't like it, but we do need that project, and up till now, of course, it has had to be kept perfectly black for reasons which I am sure are obvious to you."

"But is Cadmus authorized to detain American citizens who know about it legally? Of necessity, all DEO agents are briefed in on Cadmus."

"No, it's not."

"And I know that this agent knew nothing about Cadmus except for the basic briefing," put in Hank. "So there's no legitimate reason for him to be detained there."

"Then, since this individual was a DEO agent," Supergirl continued, "what we have to do is find out if the missing agent is really there and, if so, why he is being detained. And we must go about this in a way that doesn't jeopardize Cadmus' essential work. If he is being detained illegally, then someone at Cadmus is out of control, and the mission becomes finding and releasing the agent, then dealing with whoever's out of control and bringing the project back to its core purpose without in any way interfering with its work. And I think I have a way we can at least start to do that."

"But what happens if you find this individual, and he decides to go public with a suit for false arrest after he is freed." the President asked.

Alex took that. "If we do what's right by him and pay him his back pay, I can guarantee that he won't do that. I know that man better than anyone else on earth with the sole exception of my mother. He doesn't have a vindictive bone in his body."

The President got it. "We are speaking of your father, Deputy Danvers?"

"Yes."

"I see. I'm sorry. So what's your plan, Supergirl?"

"As you know, Director Henshaw and Deputy Danvers were at one time under arrest. In fact, they were being transported to Cadmus when they escaped. The officer in charge of their transport, a Colonel Harper, said that he had made the trip before. He may have seen Dr. Danvers at Cadmus, so the obvious first step is to talk to that officer. If you request him to be immediately assigned as your military aide, he'll be present when you award the Stars, and you can ask him the necessary questions. And at that point, you can decide how we should proceed."

"I'll be delighted to do at least that much for you. Do you know Colonel Harper's unit?"

Hank gave her the details.

"I'll see to it that the necessary orders are cut today. And I'll see you all in Washington a week next Monday. Suppose we meet at the White House for the Stars presentation at 11:15. Then we can meet with Colonel Harper after that, say 11:45 and see what he knows. After that, if all of you will have lunch with me, we can discuss where we can go from there before we move to the Congress to award Supergirl the Medal of Freedom. I'll arrange that for four in the afternoon. Also, if you'll be my guest of honor at a State Dinner to follow, Supergirl, we may be able to help reinforce the distinction between aliens such as yourself who only want to rebuild their lives here and aliens with hostile intent."

"I accept your invitation and I'll be happy to help."

"Thank you. I'll have the agenda, the hotel reservations, and the flight information to you by next Monday. And with that, I think our business is done, people. Thanks again for all your help."

"Good-bye, Madam President," they all said in unison as the screen went blank.


	5. Second Flight

5\. Second Flight

 _In which Kara spills the_ _beans_ _and Cat Grant cleans up the mess._

(Author's note:  
Cat's account of her first meeting with Supergirl is her view of the incident recounted here: s/11988866/1/Conversations  
The full conversation between Cat, Lesley Willis and Supergirl is found here: s/11988866/2/Conversations  
The full story of Supergirl's meeting with Kara Danvers and Cat Grant is found here: s/11999213/1/A-Different-Kind-of-Fight  
Note: all links are preceded by www dot fanfiction dot net/)

It was precisely twelve noon on Friday when the CatCo corporate jet left the runway. As it gained altitude, Cat Grant's thoughts turned back to the moment, now over a week earlier, when Keira had returned to CatCo from the DEO headquarters.

"What can you tell me?" she'd asked as her EA walked in.

"The White House called Director Henshaw while I was there so yes, Supergirl is getting the Medal of Freedom, and it's happening a week next Monday at four pm, and I've arranged with the Congressional press office for you to be accredited for the event. Off the record, I can say that my sister and Director Henshaw are also getting awards, but since national security considerations are involved, those awards will be given earlier and privately, at the White House although my Mom and I are invited. But no press people will know about it. The President also said she'd be sending an air force jet for us as well as Director Henshaw. And she said her staff would make the hotel reservations, and we'll get the details by Monday."

"Why didn't you get press accreditation for yourself for the Medal of Freedom ceremony?" Cat wanted to know. "What happens if I'm a victim of a cold germ?"

"We use CatCo's Washington correspondent to cover the story. I asked for a seat in the public gallery for me. We haven't published anything under my byline yet, and it'll cause fewer questions if a public gallery seat is vacant than if an accredited press person does not show up."

"That was thoughtful of you. But call National Aviation. Tell them to have the CatCo jet ready for a noon departure to Washington a week tomorrow. Then, make arrangements to have your mother, your sister, and Director Henshaw meet us at the airport at 11:15. Also, call the White House, Keira and tell the President's secretary that there's no way that any of you are flying on an air force jet when Air CatCo is making the same flight. And tell her that there's no need for hotel reservations, we'll all stay in the CatCo suite at the Hay-Adams hotel. It has enough rooms for all of us, and it's just across the street from the White House. And you'll have the weekend to see Washington. Now go make those calls."

"Yes, Miss Grant."

Now, as the jet continued to climb, Cat's thoughts turned to comparing this flight with her previous one. This time, she couldn't feel the wind, she was warm; she had a phenomenal entertainment system that catered to her tastes in music and films and a bar and kitchen that did likewise for her tastes in food and drink. But she missed the panoramic view she had from her perspective as Supergirl's passenger as well as the feeling of security and being cared for that the Kryptonian girl's arms had given her.

As the jet began to level off a few minutes later, Cat changed the focus of attention to her fellow passengers. To her experienced eye, both Director Henshaw and Kiera seemed perfectly relaxed, but Kiera's sister, Alex, was tense. Not that she was visibly showing it, but she did display the hair-trigger alertness Cat remembered seeing many times in SWAT team members before they went into action. Her mother, Dr. Eliza Danvers, was worse. She was looking at her daughter, whenever Keira wasn't looking her way, with a naked fear in her eyes. Her hands were tightly folded together, and waves of red and white ran across her fingers as she repeatedly squeezed them together.

Cat Grant wasn't the only one noticing Eliza's demeanor. Alex had also spotted it, and she nudged her sister.

"What's up" Kara murmured."

Her sister whispered back "I think Mom and I just realized how big a mistake this is. How can you change back and forth from Kara to you-know under Cat Grant's very nose without making her at least suspicious and at worse convincing her that . . .?"

"No worries, Alex, I'll take care of it."

Kara looked over at her mother and said, "By the way, Mom, I think I should tell you that Miss Grant knows all about my other job."

Eliza Danvers froze. So did Alex. And Hank.

Cat Grant thought to herself, "Here we go again." Then she turned to her assistant and asked sharply:

"Keira, would you sneak up behind your mother with a pail of cold water and dump it over her without warning?"

"No, Miss Grant, I'd never do that."

"Then why did you do so now? Your mother knows that I have the power to seriously damage your life. You clearly haven't told her of the commitments I have made to you, nor why you trust me to keep them. And from their appalled expressions, I assume that you have told neither your sister, nor her boss about your decision. So not only have you outed yourself in a highly inappropriate fashion, you have played fast and loose with the public reputation of Cat Grant, that ruthless news executive who will do anything for a good story. You know how much trouble I have taken to build that reputation, and now you force me to reveal in public that I actually have a heart? Worse, you force me to out myself not only as the unequaled mentor of assistants that I am, but as your private inspiration and muse. Somebody has to clean up this mess you've made, and since mothers tend not to trust their offsprings' judgment in new situations, it's obvious that the challenge of helping your mother relax and enjoy the next few days has fallen to me. And by the way, I forgot to ask you, but I do hope you've done your normal check of this plane before we took off? We don't want to be overheard now, do we?"

Kara looked blank for a second, got it, lowered her glasses, quickly looked around and said, "We don't have any bugs on board, Ms. Grant."

"So your punishment shall be to watch, helpless, as Dr. Danvers and I have a little Mom to Mom talk in the conference room, while you fend off your sister and Director Henshaw." She moved out of the way and gestured for the other woman to lead the way to the glassed-in compartment behind them.

When Cat opened the door, she again gestured for the other woman to precede her, and when Eliza sat down, she carefully took the next chair and sat down in the most non-threatening and open manner she could. She angled her chair so she could see the other woman without the table between them.

Kara's mother gave her a small smile. "Were you in the drama club in your high school or college, Miss Grant? You'd be great in comedy roles. But you're right. I am very concerned that you know about Kara's gifts and abilities. And because I don't know you, I can't judge whether Kara made a good decision or not. And that worries me, for all the obvious reasons."

Cat took a deep breath. On meeting the other woman, she had invited her to call her Cat. Dr. Danvers' retreat to formality was another sign that Keira's mother was nobody's fool. Cat thought for a moment and decided on her approach, then began to speak softly and gently.

"Thank you, Dr. Danvers. Yes, I was in the drama club in both high school and college. More important, as the mother of two sons, I fully understand and sympathize with your concerns. One of my boys is everything I could ask for, and the other is simply extraordinary. It's clear that you have raised two extraordinary daughters, and I want you to know how much I respect that accomplishment and how much I respect each of them. I have met Alexandra professionally on more than one occasion, and it's obvious to me that she is a highly competent leader in a very important and demanding role. It's also obvious that Director Henshaw, whom I have every reason to know is highly trusted by the President, trusts Alexandra implicitly. And I have seen how deeply Alex cares for her sister. But most of all I would like to tell you a few things about Kara."

In the main cabin, Kara looked toward Hank and Alex.

"Don't blame me, guys. It was the President who gave it away."

"What do you mean?" Alex asked.

"Remember when you guys met Cat in my new office and brought the President in on Skype?" The other two nodded. "Well, Cat's first sight of that green alien she mentioned was when it fought Supergirl. Cat cut the footage, so the public didn't see the shapeshift that followed, but she did, and it showed her how we could have pulled off that double act in her office. When the President told her that the green alien who defeated Supergirl was available to the DEO when needed, she was sharp enough to guess the rest."

Director Henshaw relaxed. "I see, and you may be right. I think Cat Grant will keep this to herself."

Alex turned to him, amazed. "Why do you say that?"

"Because when she interviewed me, she did not bring up the subject of that green alien, even though we were talking in a secure room."

"Yes, I see what you mean," said Alex. "If she didn't ask any more about the green alien after seeing you shapeshift to Hank Henshaw, she's telling you she'll keep your secret too."

As Hank and Kara nodded, in the conference room, Cat Grant moved on to the next step.

"Have you ever worked in a large business and seen the relationship between a CEO and her key assistant at close range?"

Eliza Danvers shook her head.

"It's a different kind of relationship than many people think. Most people think of the words master and servant, if not master and slave, to describe it, but that's far from the truth. CEO's of companies like CatCo, we all need someone who can become, effectively, our partner, our alter ego. They help us solve major crises; they deal with a million minor problems so we can deal with the essential issues, they keep entire filing cabinets of confidential information in the forefront of their minds and completely to themselves as they deal with dozens of employees daily. Over the past three years, Kara has proved herself to be the best assistant I have ever had. She does all her work perfectly; she handles difficult personnel situations with aplomb; she has studied me so well that she very often knows what I need and provides it before I ask. Although she's not paid to do it, she has become the final copy editor on just about everything that CatCo publishes. She copy edits at a faster speed than most people can read, she's memorized our style guide, and I've never yet caught her in a single mistake. She has quickly developed the news judgment of a far more seasoned editor, and she's made major contributions to my own work. We've worked head to head on some pieces for hours, and you really get to know somebody when you do that. She has met every challenge I have thrown at her in outstanding style. By rising to challenges as she has, she has pushed every CatCo employee who knows her, including me, to do likewise. For example, for years, I thought I was too busy to bother memorizing the names of my staff. Turnover is high in the news business, and since I have very demanding standards, our turnover is higher than average. But if Kara can memorize the names, marital and family status, hobbies and the ongoing state of the lives of every employee as she has, I have no option but to do likewise if I want to keep her respect. There is no question but that CatCo is a far better news organization today than it was when she joined us and that Kara is both the single most valuable employee in the editorial department and the major reason for that improvement. With her recent assignment change, I have put her on a career track that will make the most of her skills and ensure a solid future for her in her chosen field. I think in five years her name will be up there with Lois Lane or Ellen."

Still no response. Inwardly Cat winced. But she continued.

"That's Kara, the professional. But I also want to talk about Kara, the person. I want to tell you how I found out the depth of her integrity and care for others. But, so you can fully understand what happened, I need to tell you a story about someone else first."

"That someone is Supergirl."

Dr. Danvers remained silent. But her linked fingers went white.

"You may know that I was the first journalist to obtain an interview with our local superhero?"

Dr. Danvers nodded.

"What you don't know, because I didn't publish it, was the way I got that interview."

For the first time, the other woman spoke. "And that was?"

"On my staff is a gentleman who had extensive dealings with Superman in a previous position in Metropolis and still has a way to get messages to him. Knowing this, I threatened him with termination unless he could produce Supergirl at my desk for an interview within twenty-four hours. He did it, but he also told Supergirl of the pressure he was under."

There was a gleam in the other woman's eyes. "And how did Supergirl take that?" she asked.

"After our greetings, almost the first thing she told me was that she didn't like bullies or manipulators, and while she wasn't going to tell me how I should run my company, she would not stand for me threatening employees with loss of employment if they couldn't make her do what I wanted. She agreed that we could help each other and that CatCo would be her preferred news outlet, but if I ever did anything like that again, she'd find another media outlet to work with. So right from the start, I knew there was some integrity and backbone there, and I decided that I would take every opportunity to hone those qualities if I got the chance. Are you with me so far?"

Eliza nodded, but she remained watchful.

"Now here's where Keira, I'm sorry, I mean Kara, comes back into the story. By the way, Keira's the name I made up for her when she'd just started as my assistant. I wanted to see if she had backbone enough to call me on my apparent mistake. But she never did, and it's become a habit."

"I think you'll find that Kara saves her backbone for things she thinks are important, Miss Grant."

"I know. What I want to tell you is the story of how I found that out and also found out one of the things Kara considers important. She was just about a year into her role as my assistant when Supergirl showed up, and I got to meet with that young lady a few times. Sometimes at very close range. And some very odd coincidences started to happen at the same time, and they led me to the greatest mistake of my professional life. I became convinced, totally convinced, that my assistant, your daughter, was Supergirl.

Eliza waited.

"Oh, something happened later that proved I was totally, absolutely and utterly wrong."

Eliza Danvers raised her eyebrows.

"But I need to tell you exactly how the sequence of events played out so that you'll understand the point I want you to grasp."

"Go on, please. I'm fascinated."

"For one thing, Supergirl would drop by my office from time to time and Kara was never around when she did. Another time I was disciplining an opinion journalist who had disregarded my ban on disparaging opinion pieces on Supergirl, and I noticed Kara leave her desk out of the corner of my eye. Fifteen seconds later Supergirl lands on my balcony apologizes for interrupting, tells me she heard what was going on thanks to her super hearing and proclaims that she doesn't need me to fight her battles, and if I did so, it would be bad for CatCo. She also tells me she would prefer to be fair game for CatCo's opinion columnists, makes an unimpeachable case to support all of her statements and flies off. A few seconds later, as Lesley leaves, Kara returns to her desk. Second, when that columnist was hit by lightning and became the lady we call Livewire, her first move was to attack me in my office. Kara was with me at the time. As she arrived, we hid ourselves, and I told Kara to run for the stairwells and Security while I dealt with Lesley. But not ten seconds later Supergirl flies in, and thank God she did, because she stopped a bolt of lightning Lesley had hurled at me. I'd be dead if Supergirl hadn't done that. The third key coincidence I'll mention came the time my emails were hacked.

"I remember reading about that. It was one of your board members wasn't it?"

"It was. But what you don't know is that Kara led the investigation to find the hacker. She saved my position with Catco, and she averted a potentially very embarrassing situation for my eldest son and me. But when I asked her why she had investigated that individual, something that was not part of her initial brief, she started to say it was due to something he'd said after a particular board meeting, then she stumbled and changed her reason to something I'd said after that meeting. That got me to thinking because I was standing next to Kara from the time we walked out of the meeting room till the time the directors left the floor and that man never said anything till he was on the elevator, far out of earshot but I could see his lips move. So that afternoon I put all those coincidences together and came up with what I thought was the correct answer. I then told Kara of all these coincidences, and I told her that unless she took off her glasses, I would take it as a certainty that she was Supergirl. And when she did, I didn't just think I was right; I knew I was right. For there is something of a resemblance between the two girls."

"I'd noticed that."

"Then next day, I made the biggest mistake of my career. I told Kara that every second she played my assistant at CatCo was a second she denied Supergirl's help to people who needed it and that unless she could prove she was not Supergirl, I would fire her. The next day, she resigned. I told her she could at least complete the day. And then the miracle happened."

"What do you mean?"

"Supergirl showed up on my office balcony while Kara was at her desk."

"How on earth did Kara . . .?" Dr. Danvers began, stunned.

"How did Kara arrange that? Easily." Cat deliberately misunderstood her guest's question. "She just called James Olsen, my staffer who knows Superman and he passed on a message to Supergirl that 'my assistant wanted to see her in Miss Grant's office.' Then, when Supergirl arrived, Kara asked if she could speak with Supergirl for a few moments. I'll leave it to you to imagine how I felt at that moment, but I waved her in."

"And what happened next?" Dr. Danvers was still stunned.

Kara was very diplomatic. She told Supergirl, and I quote: "I just wanted to thank you personally for saving my sister's life. She was one of the passengers on flight 237. I can't thank you enough: Alex means the world to me."

Distantly Alex' mother replied, "Yes that's right. Alex was on that flight."

Supergirl then said, 'You're welcome, but why did you want to meet in your boss' office?'"

"And does your daughter tell her that my erroneous suspicions have just cost her her job? No, she does not. Instead, she says: 'I knew that Miss Grant wanted to see you, and I thought I could kill two birds with one stone.' So Supergirl asks me: 'What can I do for you, Miss Grant?' Now, I could have asked her some innocuous questions about what being a superhero was like now that she'd been doing it for a while. And there is no question but that was exactly what I, as CatCo's CEO, should have done. That approach would have preserved our relationship with Supergirl which, from the CatCo point of view, was the paramount consideration. But I couldn't do that and maintain Kara's respect. So I told Supergirl that I had very strong reasons for thinking Kara was her, in fact that I was certain of it; that I had let Kara know; that when she had denied it, I had forced her resignation and that she had in fact resigned earlier that afternoon to take effect at day's end. I also apologized for Kara for doubting her, and I told her that I refused to accept her resignation. Not that I thought for a second that that would help matters: I fully expected Supergirl to end our agreement in a blaze of righteous fury. And my anticipation turned out to be correct. But when Supergirl started to tell me I had broken the agreement, your daughter intervened and stopped her."

"She did?" Eliza asked.

"She did. She told Supergirl to her face that she had misread the matter. According to Kara, it was not about me manipulating or bullying her, or by extension, Supergirl. It was a matter of the trust that, of necessity, anyone in my position has to have in their assistant. Kara pointed out that it was circumstances that had caused me to distrust her, and once she had lost my trust, she had no choice but to resign. Supergirl saw the justice of Kara's point and agreed that I hadn't broken our agreement. So I took a deep breath and tried to end the meeting but Supergirl wouldn't let me. Instead, she took the opportunity to walk me through every aspect of what exposing her private life would mean, using Kiera as the hypothetical Supergirl that my error had created. In brief, publishing the name under which Supergirl lives her daily life would have the following results. It would paint targets on the back of Kara's mother and sister to say nothing of her other friends such as James Olsen who've done nothing to deserve being targets. And Supergirl has done nothing that deserves me putting those people or their actual counterparts at risk. And Supergirl knew that I know, thanks to Livewire, exactly how it feels to have a supervillain's target painted on your back."

"I see," said Eliza. Her eyes were glazed.

"And at this point, Kara asked a very perceptive question. 'But there's more to it, Supergirl, isn't here?' And Supergirl replied that if I publish who Supergirl really is, not only do targets appear on the back of her family and friends, she loses her daily life. I can quote what she said, verbatim, to this day. Speaking of her normal daily life, she said 'that's far more important to me than being Supergirl. Supergirl isn't really my life: Supergirl is a label, a cape, an outfit and a job description. Thanks to the amazing closeness of Kryptonian and human biologies, I can live as a human in this world. I have friends who don't see me like an alien because they know me as one of themselves. I have a job, doing useful work. I work with mostly nice people . . . all the normal things humans do which are not all that different from what Kryptonians did, and what I expected I would do before . . . So my life here is not all that different from what it would have been on Krypton. It's basically a happy life with my family and my friends. And most of the time I think of myself as a human, not as a Kryptonian in exile. I'm effectively an immigrant here. And it's partly because you guys have become so much my people that I kept on being Supergirl and started looking for trouble instead of staying hidden. If I'm outed, I lose my entire human life that I've built up over the last ten years. Oh, I guess I'll keep on helping out, but unless I build an entirely new life, I won't be able to go to movies with my best friend, or take my mother out to dinner. I've never asked for any favors as Supergirl, and I'm not going to start now, but is the scoop of outing Supergirl worth me losing my entire life just because I feel compelled to help others? Is it Miss Grant?'"

Cat looked straight at her guest. "Dr. Danvers, I'll say this without false modesty. I'm a committed, experienced and cynical journalist who has worked in this field for over 20 years, for the last decade at its highest level. I've heard and disbelieved every rationale for not publishing stories pushed by people who didn't want their lives damaged by the exposure of their stupidity, their disreputable actions, or their criminal deeds. I can see through the self-interest that drives every other argument against publication I've ever heard. But I couldn't and still can't deny the truth that as long as Supergirl continues to help others, she doesn't deserve to do so at the cost of losing her private life. And that's what I told her. I said, 'No, you don't deserve to lose your normal life, so long as you keep on sticking to helping others. But if you ever develop another agenda, all agreements are off.' Knowing Supergirl as I do, I don't believe her agenda will ever change. And if I ever find do out her identity, Dr. Danvers, I'll happily keep my promise, and, by telling you, a third party, of our agreement, I have just ensured my professional ruin if I ever break it. But that's just contracts. There's a personal reason as well."

The other woman's voice was still off away somewhere. "And that is?"

Cat smiled. "That's what happened after Supergirl left that night. The first thing I did was to thank Kara for keeping Supergirl on CatCo's side, and I asked her why she did it after I had forced her resignation."

"Kara replied that my refusal to accept her resignation, given in the middle of the meeting with Supergirl, meant that she was still my AA with the responsibility to act in my interest, and since she possessed knowledge of the correct facts, it was her obligation to point them out. I then pointed out that she had remained loyal to me when she had no cause to show such loyalty. I was referring to the hours when her resignation had, in fact, been in effect. During that time, she had told neither James Olsen nor Supergirl of my suspicions. And I asked her why she remained loyal when I didn't deserve it; she replied that she was trying to avoid embarrassing me: James didn't need to know my suspicions, and Supergirl's arrival in my office with her present had proven them utterly groundless. And I think you should hear what happened next verbatim because I want you to be as proud of your daughter as I am honored to have her working for me as my assistant."

"I said to Kara, 'Let me get this straight: I force your resignation, and you don't want to embarrass me? I know you aren't Supergirl, Keira, but clearly, you are not from this planet.'"

"And she replied, 'No, no Miss Grant, I'm a normal earthling. Two thousand or so years ago, it was another normal earthling who said 'That which is hateful to you, do not do to another.'I hate being embarrassed or making a fool of myself and I knew that my repeating your suspicions would be nothing more than rubbing your nose in exactly how wrong you were, and that in front of Supergirl. Right when this started I told you that I didn't want you to be embarrassed when you found out how wrong you were, and I meant that. Telling Supergirl of your suspicions would have been a mega-embarrassment for you. There was no way I could do that to you.'"

"Dr. Danvers, there's no way I could reward loyalty and integrity like that by doing anything to harm Kara. Once again, her sheer goodness compels me to rise to her level, even if it might mean keeping the scoop of the century to myself."

For the first time, Eliza Danvers chuckled, but she was still not quite present. "Kara does have a strong effect on people."

"You are correct. In fact, her effect on me has been so strong that, when we end this conversation, I will call her into this room and ask her to sign a new contract. That contract doesn't give her a raise in pay; it merely changes her employer from CatCo to me personally. Such a change required board approval, and because I place such a high value on her, the board didn't want to agree until I offered to forego half a million dollars in stock options each year for the next five years. Not to mention personally paying the hundred thousand dollars or so that is her salary and benefits package."

Eliza opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

"Oh don't worry, that last one isn't really a pay cut. CatCo is paying me that extra amount and I will pay it directly to Keira. And my accountants can easily compensate for the increase in taxes that comes with the apparent increase to my salary. But I'd also like to mention that the new contract contains a penalty clause. If I dismiss Kara for any reason whatsoever that is not directly related to subpar performance in her defined CatCo duties, she will receive two million dollars a year for life. And yes, the clause was worded in such a way that should she ever be discovered to be Supergirl, that fact in and of itself will be insufficient justification to avoid triggering the penalty clause if I fire her for it. Not that I would fire her anyway."

"That's quite a high price to pay, Cat, but you haven't answered one question. Since Supergirl and Kara turned up in your office at the same time, they couldn't be the same person. So how did Kara do that, and how did you come to know. . . ?" Eliza's voice went silent.

Cat noticed the change from Miss Grant to her first name and without moving a muscle, she inwardly relaxed. Then she spoke. "I knew I was wrong. There's no way that Kara could be Supergirl if both of them were in my office together. Except for one thing. Do you remember when Supergirl went out of control a few weeks back?"

Eliza nodded.

"Her rampage was stopped by a flying green alien. What you don't know, because I personally cut our broadcast footage short, is that after that green alien stopped Supergirl, it then changed its shape to that of a human, specifically a black man. If that alien could change shapes to a black man, could it, perhaps, change its shape to that of a blonde girl? So the other day, in a conversation with Director Henshaw and the President, at which Kara was present, I asked a couple of questions about that alien and learned that he was what we might call a consultant to the DEO, which as you may know, is the same role Supergirl fills with that organization. That evening Supergirl appears to fly me out to the DEO headquarters for my scheduled interview with the Director. We arrive ahead of schedule, and I ask Supergirl if I can talk to her in a secure conference room. She takes me to a room where the door is keyed to her hand alone. In that room is some Kryptonian technology salvaged from her spacecraft. It is a complete copy of her mother's memories linked to a hologram of a woman in blue. Before she can turn it on, I stop her by saying that 'I guess that the hologram is that of your mother.' The rest of the conversation went like this. Once more this is verbatim."

"'That's right," said Supergirl. 'Her name was Alura Zor-El. The House of El was one of the leading families of Krypton with a long history of producing leaders in the sciences and government. My Mom was a Judicator, a judge of the High Council and my Dad was a leading scientist. But we're secure now. What do you need to ask me?' And I replied. 'I'm honored to be your friend Supergirl, but I do need to know if I have met that shape changing green alien before. And I especially need to know if we met in my office.'"

"And she said. 'That's very perceptive, Cat, but I've always known you were sharp. I'll let my mother speak to that question before I do.' And she turned and pushed a button on the wall. The hologram came to life and said 'Hello Kara.'

"And Supergirl pushed the button to freeze it again. Then she said 'My Kryptonian name is Kara Zor-El. Since you are one of my friends, Cat, you should know it.' And I replied 'This is more than a conference room to you, isn't it? This room is the heart of Supergirl, and you've invited me into it. Perfectly sentimental, but I'm honored by your trust. As I said before, I'll keep your confidence.'"

"So Dr. Danvers, I hope you believe me enough to relax. In fact, I'll finish by saying this. God forbid that anything happens to you, but if anything does and you aren't here, I promise you that I'll keep an eye on your girls for you. And now if Kara and Alexandra will join us, I really need to get Kiera's signature on her new contract." As she finished, Cat turned and waved to the sisters to come in.

"Thank you, Cat for relieving my mind. Now I see why Kara trusts you so much." And Eliza Danvers' face finally relaxed.


	6. First Presentations

6\. First Presentations

 _In which Alex and Hank_ _are rewarded_ _for their labors and the President launches a new project._

The weekend in Washington had been great. Cat knew Washington already, so she had arranged some interviews with Washington movers and shakers to keep herself busy. Eliza, Alex, Kara, and Hank had spent the weekend visiting some of the major tourist sites including the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, the Smithsonian and especially, at Kara's insistence, the Jefferson Memorial.

But now it was Monday morning, and the Danvers family and Hank were due at the White House for the private presentations. They decided to walk through Lafayette Square to the North Gate. Once admitted, as they walked towards the white and stately mansion on the softly rising hill, the awe began to take hold.

When they arrived at the West Wing entrance, they were met by Colonel Harper, who was now the President's military aide. He had the passes to go around their necks, As they walked through the lobby and down the corridors, he took the opportunity to thank Hank for his role in ending the danger from the Myriad wave and to apologize for his previous prejudice.

When they arrived, they were shown directly into the Oval Office. As the Colonel left after the introductions, Dr. Danvers handed the President a photograph as the other visitors noticed that there was nobody else in the office.

The President noticed their looks.

"Ladies and gentleman, given what is going to be done here, I made sure that no unauthorized persons would be present to hear these presentations. It's unfortunate, but it's an unfortunate necessity. Every single person on earth either owes their life, in part to you, Director Henshaw or owes Supergirl's life to you, Deputy Director Danvers. While earth's people may not know these facts for a long time if ever, it gives me very great pleasure to thank you today on their behalf. And that said, given the time constraints, we should probably get right to it. Deputy Director, would you stand here please?"

As Alex took her position, the President turned to Kara.

"Would you do me a favor please, Ms. Danvers? I think it would be appropriate if you read the citation for this award."

Kara was on her feet instantly. "Of course. May I see the citation, please?" She read the text, looked at the President, who nodded and Kara began to read the text in a clear, carrying voice.

"Whereas Supergirl had carried the Kryptonian prison known as Fort Rozz into space to end the danger from the Myriad wave at the risk of her life, and whereas DEO Agent Alexandra Danvers recognized Supergirl's danger and, on her own initiative and at the risk of her life, piloted the Kryptonian spacecraft used first by Supergirl to travel to this planet to go beyond Earth's atmosphere and successfully retrieve Supergirl."

"Now, therefore, by the direction of the President, Alexandra Danvers is awarded the National Service Star for services above and beyond the call of duty to the United States of America."

As Kara finished reading, the President slipped the medal over her sister's head. Then she spoke. "Deputy Director, I think that you, of all people, should read the citation for Director Henshaw here."

Alex nodded, "I'd be deeply honored to do that Ma'am." She glanced at the paper the President handed to her and nodded. The President nodded back, and she began:

"Whereas J'onn J'onnzz of Mars also known as Hank Henshaw volunteered, while under arrest, to accompany Supergirl to the earthly landing place of the Kryptonian prison Fort Rozz and whereas on arrival there, he risked his life to help Supergirl subdue two hostile aliens so that she could send Fort Rozz into space thus ending the threat from the Myriad wave.

"Now, therefore, by the direction of the President, Hank Henshaw also known as J'onn J'onnzz is awarded the National Service Star for services above and beyond the call of duty to the United States of America."

There was silence as the President slipped the medal over Hank's head.

Then the President spoke again, "You both realize, of course, that you can never wear these medals publicly?"

Alex and Hank nodded.

"Here are the boxes you can put them in," said the President as she gave one box to each recipient and the medals were put away.

"And now," said the President, "if Dr. and Ms. Danvers will wait outside in my secretary's office, I'm afraid the Director, his deputy, Colonel Harper and I need to have a little chat before we can break for lunch. Could you ask the Colonel to come in please?"

The two women walked out, and the Colonel came in: "Reporting as ordered, Ma'am."

"Thank you, Colonel. I need you here because we may have a serious problem with a Top Secret, code-word compartment and we need your help to decide what to do about it. Director Henshaw and his Deputy are the action officers I have charged with investigating and if necessary, solving this problem, along with Supergirl, who I'll brief in later. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Ma'am. Which compartment is causing the trouble?"

"I'm afraid it's Project Cadmus. We have received some credible evidence claiming that someone in the project may be operating unacceptably far outside the project guidelines. Director Henshaw tells me you've been there?"

"Yes I have, but I've never done anything more than being the conducting officer when we've shipped aliens there. I've supervised their transport, their unloading, and I've led the team that conducted them to their cells."

"I see. What I need from you is the answer to a few questions." She reached for the photo on her desk that Eliza had brought with her and turned it over. "First, have you seen this man at Cadmus?"

"Yes, I have. He's one of the human detainees who have illegal knowledge of the project. I heard his name mentioned once; it's Jerry something."

"Thank you, Colonel. I believe Director Henshaw will also want the location of the project and any other information you can provide."

In the next few minutes the Colonel told them everything he knew about Cadmus. It wasn't much, but it was a start.

When he was finished, the President thanked him and said, "Colonel, I'm going to break protocol here a little bit by giving you a direct order as your Commander-in-Chief."

Colonel Harper nodded.

"I order you to keep this conversation completely to yourself. You may not speak of it to any of your military superiors, no matter what orders you may have received or may receive from them. Should any superior officer present you with orders that conflict with this directive, you are authorized and ordered to deny any knowledge of what has been mentioned here, and you are ordered to make immediate, direct contact with the White House Signals Office to report any such conflicts to me. Nor may you repeat the conversation to any civilian. You will recognize that only I, or my legal successor, has the authority to open this compartment. And if your further help is needed when the investigation goes operational, you will obey any orders of Director Henshaw, his Deputy or Supergirl as if they came from me. Do you understand your orders, Colonel?

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Thank you, Colonel, you are dismissed. As you go, please get Dr. Danvers and her daughter to rejoin us and then we will have lunch."

Lunch was in the President's dining room, two doors along the corridor from the Oval Office. After the stewards served the food and left, the President began to speak. "Dr. Danvers, Ms. Danvers, as I believe you know, we have received credible intelligence, now confirmed, that Dr. Jeremiah Danvers is being illegally detained at one of our most secret research projects. Consequently, I have launched a new project to find out what is going on at Cadmus and to get your husband and father out safely, ideally without damaging the necessary work now going on there."

"Excuse me, Madam President," interjected Alex, "but both my mom and my sister are civilians. Are you sure we need to bring both of them fully into this project?"

"Actually Alex, I'm not a civilian anymore." her mother said.

"Outside of the people at Cadmus, your mother is probably the planet's most experienced doctor at dealing with alien physiologies and pathologies first hand." replied the President. "And she's also the newly appointed Director of Research for the DEO."

"What?" exclaimed Alex and Kara simultaneously.

"I've been headhunting her for the past ten years," Hank replied. "But we've been talking about it back and forth intensely for the last two weeks."

"Up till then, I'd never considered it for a second because I didn't trust the DEO." Eliza said, "But after I met Hank when you were on the run and learned that you are doing this, it's clear that I should come alongside and help. They may need somebody like me at Cadmus if it's someone on the research side who went out of control. And while the pension is nice, I could use some additional pocket money. Not to mention avoiding boredom. And of course, it's a great opportunity to keep a closer eye on both of my favorite girls."

"And thanks to the note left for me by a previous incumbent," interjected the President, "I know of Ms. Danvers' special abilities, something I assure you I'll forget the second I leave office. Or at least some of them."

"What do you mean, Madam President?" Kara was worried.

"I'm not going to forget how Cat Grant keeps on repeatedly boasting about her superlative Executive Assistant to everyone she meets. She's done it every time I've seen her in the last two years. And when you so forcefully insisted that Cat should pay for the hotel reservations and fly you people here, you stonewalled my EA, who, I can tell you, is not someone who is easily stonewalled. You're the first person in eight years to force Ellen to pass a phone call to me to resolve something she couldn't handle herself. It just so happens that she's going off on maternity leave next week. I don't suppose I could interest you in a temporary position here?"

"Thank you for the honor Madam President, but after Miss Grant has just done something utterly amazing to ensure my continued services, there's no way I'm working anywhere else, even if I wanted to, which I don't."

"I thought you might feel that way." said the President. "But I understand you visit the DEO on occasion: you might be able to help them load their photocopiers. And you may consider yourself authorized for this compartment since I know you'll be able to keep your sister and Director Henshaw organized. Not to mention helping them out in other ways."

They all laughed and turned to planning the next steps to investigate Cadmus and free Jeremiah.

When the lunch was over, and the visitors began to file out of the dining room, the President stopped them.

"If you'll just wait outside, I'd like a private moment with Ms. Danvers, please."

"Me, Madam President?"Kara asked as the others left.

"You, Kara. It's nothing major, but just to let you know, I've told the Speaker of Supergirl's wish to address the House after she receives the Medal of Freedom. The House voted early this morning to hear you."

"Thank you, Madam President. And thank you for not treating me as Supergirl during the Star presentations. Alex deserved to be the full focus of your attention at that moment." Kara said.

"So you forewarned me when we talked. But there are two other things. The State Department has been flooded with requests from just about every country on earth, all wanting to award you their counterparts to the Medal of Freedom. How do you want State to handle this?"

"I'll have to think about that and get back to you. Is that OK?"

"Certainly." The President handed Kara a cell phone. "You should use this as Supergirl's cell phone. It has the White House Signals Office number preloaded in the contacts, the bills will be paid by the President's office operational fund, it's untraceable by the phone companies, it has our top-rank scrambling capability built in and it will automatically update when we do our most secure updates. If you ever need to reach me in an emergency, just call and tell the Signals Office you need to reach me, and you'll be speaking to me five seconds later. And, while I will usually try to reach you through the DEO if I need you, I have your number in case something requires more urgent communication."

"I hope that we never have to use it, Madam President, but if you need to know something, I'll call. And of course, I'll be happy to take your calls. Thank you and good-bye for now."

"I'll see you at the House steps at 3:45. Are you sure you don't want to meet me here as Supergirl and ride over with me?"

"Positive. It's best to keep Supergirl and Kara Danvers completely separate, today of all days."

"Then I will see you later. Good-bye for now."


	7. Medal of Freedom

7\. Medal of Freedom

 _In which the President presents a Medal and Supergirl makes a vow._

Cat Grant met Dr. Danvers, Alex and Hank in the lobby of the hotel at 3:30.

"I have the limo waiting. Let's go."

0000000000000000000000000

At the Capitol, the Secret Service was doing something new. Normally, half the assigned team would be watching the perimeter while the other half would be watching for the President's arrival. This time, only one-third watched for the President's arrival, one-third watched the perimeter, and the remaining agents were looking upwards.

At 3:45 exactly, as the Presidential Motorcade was easing to a stop at the House steps, Supergirl touched down on the top step.

The President and her civilian aide got out of the lead SUV and came up the steps, surrounded by the usual Secret Service people.

"Hello, Supergirl, thank you for coming."

"You're welcome, Madam President.

"Here's how it works: we go to a room next door to the Speaker's office where we make any final preparations and then one of his aides comes to get us."

"That's fine." The group walked into the Capitol. As they arrived in the waiting room, the President turned to Supergirl.

"You don't seem to have any notes or an iPad with you, do you have a USB stick for the teleprompter?"

"I have what most people call a photographic memory," Supergirl replied. "I'm also accustomed to public speaking. But I do have a cell phone in my boot holster and it has my text if I want to check it."

A few minutes later the Speaker's aide knocked on the door. "It's time," he said.

0000000000000000000000

It was one minute to four as the Speaker rose and struck his gavel three times. "The House will be in order," he announced.

As the members took their seats with Senators standing against the walls, the Doorkeeper of the House made the traditional announcement with one difference, "Mr. Speaker, the President of the United States . . . and Supergirl."

His announcement was drowned by a great roar of applause and cheers that were much louder than usual and lasted far longer. But this time the applause and the cheers were not for the President, but for the young woman in blue and red who preceded her.

As the applause finally died, the President spoke, "Mr. Speaker, this afternoon I enjoy what is unquestionably the greatest privilege that has fallen to the lot of any President in our country's history. It is the privilege of introducing to you and to the House a woman who is truly unique, who arrived in our country as a child in what I can only call a miraculous fashion, as a refugee from another planet. She was first fostered, and then adopted by a fine American family. Since entering public life, she has persistently offered her skills and abilities in the service of those who need her help, despite enduring many attacks from criminals from our own Earth, her own and other planets, not to mention repeated attacks from Americans who feared the damage her powers might do. Most recently, as you know, she defeated the Kryptonian criminals who came perilously close to killing every human being on earth in the greatest attempted genocide this planet has ever seen. While reading Director Henshaw's full report on the matter, I learned that one of those criminals was our guest's uncle and that he had invited her to join his group. Not only did she spurn that invitation, in the final, climactic attack she personally fought and defeated that uncle in single combat – to the death. In addition, she then risked her life by carrying the Kryptonian headquarters – a space station with an estimated weight of one million tons – into space and sending it into an orbit that will take it far away from earth, all without knowing whether she could return safely. By that action, she singlehandedly saved the lives of every single person on this planet, including you and me. Consequently, it is fitting and right to honor this young woman, known to us as Supergirl, with the nation's highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction."

A second roar of applause filled the air and it did not die for a long time. When it did, the President glanced at Supergirl, who stood at attention as the medal was placed around her neck.

As the Girl of Steel quietly said,"Thank you, Madam President," the President stepped back.

The Speaker rose and spoke again, "And now, Supergirl, the floor is yours."

In the public gallery, Alex and her mother grabbed each other's hands: Kara had said nothing about this. A few seats over, Hank Henshaw, who knew what was coming, thought, "Don't blow it, Supergirl" as did Cat Grant in the press box. Kiera had asked her to help work on her speech.

But Supergirl was speaking now, and the House was silent:

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members of the House for the privilege of addressing you today."

For the next few seconds, there was silence as Supergirl looked around the room.

"Madam President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the House, Mr. Vice-President, Senators, Distinguished Guests, Ladies, and Gentlemen."

"It is a high honor to receive this award. I promise you that I will do all I can to be worthy of it."

"The President has described my arrival on earth as 'miraculous', taking the word in the sense of an extremely improbable coincidence. In fact, many such "miracles" were involved. Not only did my parents have the means to send their child on an interstellar journey, there was also a suitable planet within reach that was capable of supporting Kryptonian life as well as its' own life forms."

"Another miracle I must mention is that humans and Kryptonians share sentience and self-awareness. Humans and Kryptonians are both born into a world we did not ask to come to, we must all learn to build our lives in it, we must all cope with problems, illnesses, accidents, tragedies and active evil as well as our own weaknesses and our need to learn wisdom. And in the long run, we will all die. In short, in all essentials, Kryptonians share equally in the human condition."

"The Kryptonian year was essentially the same as an earth year, and when I left Krypton, I had just turned thirteen. My ship was almost launched too late, however, and it was caught and knocked off course by the blast wave when the planet exploded. What happened next, I can't be sure of, but it seems that I spent several years in a form of suspended animation. For before I left, I saw my cousin, then a baby, sent on his way to earth in another ship only a few minutes before my own was launched. But he arrived here as a baby, grew up here and then served as Superman for five years before my own arrival. When I arrived, approximately twenty-five years after Krypton's destruction, I was still physiologically thirteen years old, So, as you can see, the next "miracle" was that my ship and I somehow survived and arrived on earth at all."

"The fifth "miracle" is that the physiology of human beings and Kryptonians is essentially identical. And that identity goes deeper that simple appearance. If I were to walk into a doctor's examination room today for any non-invasive examination, she would see that some of my vitals vary a little from the human averages, but she would never suspect that her patient was not an earth-born human. That is a tremendous blessing. I can build and live my life here, not as a Kryptonian outsider to human society and culture, but as someone just like you."

"Another miracle was the family that adopted me upon my arrival. As you may know, Superman met my ship as it landed and brought me to some people he knew to have me checked out. From the first moment that they saw me, however, that family took me in and they have loved me wholeheartedly as their own daughter and sister ever since. And while these truly extraordinary people also deserve your gratitude – for I would never have taken on the role of Supergirl without their love and support – it is, unfortunately, necessary that they remain anonymous today. So I will only say that I am deeply grateful for their love and their care throughout my years here. Thanks to them, I have seen human family life at its best and I was able to observe that it is essentially identical to the love that bound the strong Kryptonian families I grew up with. In addition, I found myself benefiting from a fine education, which was an ideal position to investigate human views on morality, ethics and civics, subjects of deep interest to me ever since my earliest years on Krypton, where my mother served as the Chief Judicator of the High Council, a position which was the Kryptonian counterpart to that of the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court."

"As I investigated human views of ethics and morality I found a great deal of commonality between the moral system of Krypton and the various moral systems of Earth. In fact, almost every moral axiom of Earth had its Kryptonian counterpart. Many can even be translated directly on a word for word basis."

"I'd like to focus on one of those axioms for a moment. The Chinese sage Confucius gave you, 'Never do to others what you would not like them to do to you' and the Rabbi, Hillel the Elder, set forth its Jewish counterpart: 'that which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow.'"

"This axiom is important for two reasons. First, it undergirds the highest goal of civil ethics. Under American political theory, aside from achieving required national goals such as winning a war, the state's primary justification for interfering with a citizen's liberty is to prevent, minimize and punish human wrongdoing against one's fellows. The second reason I am reflecting on this axiom is that the Hebrew version of it directly translates into Kryptonese. That Kryptonese axiom, however, adds something more; it adds a reason for refraining from doing something hateful to ones' fellow Kryptonians. And that reason, the Kryptonese phrase 'el mayara sin,' may be translated like this: 'for we are stronger together.'"

"That clause, 'we are stronger together,' had a tremendous impact and significance in Kryptonian history, ethics, and civics. Historically, Krypton's people began and continued for many centuries as a group of warring tribes until one leader began a campaign to convince all the tribes that we would do better together. 'El mayara,' was his slogan. His campaign took almost a quarter of a century, but in the end, all the tribes came together. The visionary was proved correct: once my ancestors learned to work together, there was a great, planet-wide, increase in prosperity and happiness. That leader, the first Zor-El, was my distant ancestor and over the running centuries that followed, his descendants, the House of El, consistently played leading roles in government, the judiciary and, the sciences. They also took 'El mayara' as our House motto, and to this day, my cousin and I wear the stylized sigil of that motto," (and here Supergirl pointed to the S on her blouse), "on our uniforms."

The crowd applauded. Supergirl waited for the applause to die, then she continued.

"But because Kryptonian society never knew a struggle for the rights of individuals against a tyrannical state, Kryptonians placed all the emphasis in that slogan on the word 'together.' Nowhere in Kryptonian history did anyone ask the question, "Who are the we that are stronger together? Or more properly, who am I, defined apart from the clan, the House or the leaders?"

"And here is the last miracle I must mention. The country I arrived in, the United States of America, this country, is clearly not a perfect country, but a work in progress. It is a country founded on uneasy compromises every bit as much as it is founded on high ideals. It has its serious problems and there are many different views on how those problems should be addressed. Yet despite all the challenging questions America faces today, the fact remains that this country was founded on a new conception of the rights of men and women that was unlike anything that had ever been put forward on Krypton or had been previously known on Earth. Consider these two sentences taken from the opening of the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence:

"'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.'"

"The first time I read these sentences I realized three things. First, Thomas Jefferson's first sentence is not only a self-evident truth and the unalienable birthright of all who share in the human condition: his words are a logical deduction from the universally recognized moral axiom I alluded to a few moments ago, namely "that which is hateful to you do not do to your fellow." By anchoring fundamental rights in the individual as he does, Jefferson not only ennobles every citizen, but he also gives a new identity to the "we" that neither Kryptonians nor humans had previously known."

"Second, Jefferson's principle also increases the strength of the group. For his words freed then, and still free now, every man or woman resident in this country to use whatever means of pursuing happiness are lawful and ethical. For the first time in known history, whatever means one man or woman may lawfully use to improve their lot were now made available to all men and women. And it is a matter of sheer historical fact, proven by the record of American progress, that whenever men and women have been freed to pursue their dreams, they have achieved much more as individuals and they are stronger and more capable when they come together to pursue common goals."

Here Supergirl was again interrupted by applause. Again she waited for it to end.

"Finally, by virtue of Jefferson's second sentence, the role of government was transformed. Rather than merely ruling or lording over their peoples, as had previously been the norm on both Earth and Krypton, Jefferson rightly saw that governments' fundamental purpose was that of supporting and securing these same individual rights."

"But when I began to serve as Supergirl, I found that Jefferson's words had yet another impact on me. As Supergirl, I do not meet people on the basis of the usual social distinctions that we normally use every day. When I meet and help people who need me, distinctions of skill, wealth, race, color, class or anything else that distinguishes one human being from another are irrelevant. Instead, I meet people and respond to their needs on the basis of our common humanity. Just as Jefferson saw that the fundamental purpose of Government was to secure those self-evident rights for all Americans, I recognize that I have the moral obligation to use the extra-normal abilities that I received in coming to this planet to help individual men and women address threats to their exercise of these same rights."

"And because Jefferson's words have been such an inspiration to me, I count it a special privilege that I was able to help the people of this country, in addition to the rest of the world, survive the worldwide attack by the Kryptonian criminals that the President has mentioned. As I flew to Washington to receive this award, I flew over farmers working in their fields, truckers and railwaymen transporting goods from city to city, union members, tradesmen, business and retail professionals serving their customers, teachers and professors teaching, reporters and news professionals reporting the news, and political leaders serving their constituents; each and every one of you free to use your lives and liberties to pursue your happiness in ways that seem good to you and benefit others. To see this happening, to know that

the Star Spangled Banner yet waves  
o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave

was and is the greatest reward I could ever desire or receive, and I am deeply humbled that I was able to help keep it that way."

Another roar of applause broke out. When it stopped, Supergirl spoke again.

"Finally, I know that many of you who hear me today, both here in this historic chamber, or by means of the TV cameras broadcasting this event, have legitimate concerns about the uses to which I may put my powers in future. And because you do, I believe it is right and fitting to record here and now before you all, my personal commitment to serve humanity by doing what I may to maintain the inalienable rights of all those who share in the human condition." At this, everyone in the House caught their breath, as Supergirl raised her right hand and continued: "And now therefore I, Kara Zor-El, Eldest and Last Daughter of the House of El, formerly of the planet Krypton, and now engaging in public life on earth under the name Supergirl, do make oath, vow and swear an eternal hostility to anything and everything that threatens the inalienable rights of humans and other sentient beings, and that from this day forward I shall do all I can, where I can and when I can, to help all that I can, to exercise these same inalienable rights so long as I have the power to do so, ni mexkit Rao, which, in English, means so help me God."

"Thank you, good afternoon, and God bless America."

The roar that followed was deafening.


End file.
